Wow,
What a great year, this is our 7th time doing a haunted house, we got between 600-650 people in a 3 hour time frame.
Every year has its problems and ours started 5 min before we opened with a visit from the fire marshall.
He tried to shut us down...
We convinced him that everything would be ok and he finally left and didnt return =)
Im 15 years old and build nearly the whole thing myself...
You can see pictures at www.deadenddungeon.com I will post the pictures from tonight in the next few days.
I hope everyone had a great time, would love to hear your stories.
Thanks,
Drew

Hey DeadEndDungeon---your pics and website are awsome. Very inspirational. I finally got my husband on board with doing a full fledge yard haunt next year and I can't wait to get started...even if it is 364 days away!!

this was the first year for me too. last year we just had some tombstones, this year i went all out with a "haunted tomb" in the garage. we got probably 60-80 people from around the neighborhood. and i'm already thinking of stuff for next year!! can't wait!!

This year went great for us as well. We had about 50-70 kids come through. Ive already started thinking about next year, but I'll have to hold off on that until after I get up the christmas stuff... so the madness continues...

This was our 2nd year doing our Haunted walk-thru. It was about 300 walking feet. We had about 150-175 people and we only had it open for 2hrs. Our subdivision has about 140 homes and we are in the cul-de-sac. We enjoy putting it together. We love the reaction of all neighbors and our neighborhood has shown its appreciation to us every year. We are excited about planning for next year. You know it is never too early to plan for next year. Thanks to all the post on this forum it has helped us with so much.

This years Eerie Street Haunt went amazingly well! Not only did we get close to 200 kids stop in for candy and a zillion cars taking a look all month long... Our local News channel 11 even stopped in to do a live broadcast with me and the gang on Halloween day!

Check it out here if you get a chance... Our segment is about 30 seconds in!

quick question- how much did you guys advertise and if someone were to get hurt at your haunt would you be liable.
Im thinking of advertising next year and just want to know my options are, cause without advertising i get like 10 trick or treators

I've done home haunts for years, in addition to commercial haunts. For home haunting I wouldn't advertise at all, as that will open you up to more liability and at least would 'seem' that you are trying to run a full fledge haunted production. In the end, if someone gets hurt, your ass is on the line. You can definitely take steps to mitigate risks, i.e. I put ramps for handicap tricker/treaters (as I have one area with steps), make sure everything is well lite (enough to avoid any serious injuries), fire-proofed and I place a few people throughout to help guide the tricker/treaters. But most people who go to a home haunt just appreciate the fact that you're putting it on, as opposed to professional haunt. In the 5 years I've run my home haunt, most leave with a smile, or better yet scream, on the their face. Plus its frickin AWESOME to be that house, which is how I initially got started.

well, i dont get enough trick or treater not to advertise.
I guess the delema i am having is what i am thinking baout doing next year, and will it be worth it.
I am considereding constructing a freestanding temporary wooden structure in my back yard for the haunted house. IT would simply mean i would have to man up and leave that black plastic sheeting behind. I figure if i get alot of people to go through it it would be well worth it. But if i dont iit would be worth it. Some of the stuff that i am going to need if i decide to advertise would cost lots of money, ie security, security camera, more than likely fireretardent paint. That kind of stuff is going to take me all year to save up for. And spending hundreds of dollars on this sort of stuff would not be worth 10 trick or treaters. ITS still free to go through the haunt, but i wouldnt get as much satisfaction from doing it.